With a new school year back in session, sleep and the lack of sleep may be topics of discussions in classes and among students. Many teens and even adults are willing to complete whatever task is expected, even if meeting the deadlines for the task means not getting enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can create many adverse effects. For example, sleep deprivation may lead to serious health problems, it can make you feel depressed, and can cause very serious accidents.

Some of the serious health problems that sleep deprivation may cause are heart complications, heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, and diabetes. Not getting enough sleep for a long period of time will raise cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that is released in response to stress and will also suppress the immune system. High cortisol levels encourage the build-up of inflammation and plaque in the heart.

Not getting sleep can make any person feel depressed or very stressed out. Insomnia, a sleeping disorder, causes a person to have a rough time falling asleep or staying asleep. This is one of the leading factors in why people may be depressed. Not sleeping enough limits the brain’s ability to process feeling emotions or perceiving the emotions of others. This all happens in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which plays a role in emotions and anxiety.

Many simple tasks like driving or doing homework are more difficult to conduct due to the lack of sufficient sleep. Sleep deprivation will sometimes present the same effects as someone who is intoxicated. Driving while suffering from lack of sleep could result in similar reckless driving behaviors that are experienced when driving under the influence.

Accidents are more likely to happen when sleep deprived. For example during the Industrial Revolution workers were forced to work for over 12 hours a day in very exhausting conditions. People were always sleep deprived. During this time factories were not safe and any wrong move would cause death. Attention was needed 100 percent of the time and not sleeping caused people to fall from great heights or get caught in huge machines that could tear anything apart.

Students should get as much sleep as possible as mistakes in homework, paying attention in class, or participating will increase leading to the lowering of grades. Sleep causes health problems, and disruptions to your work or school, and social life. Sleep is crucial to everyone; and critical to functioning well. Be good to yourself–get some sleep!